NRCC News

NRCC presidential announcement

Oct 24 2024

NRCC presidential announcement:
Instructor turned administrator selected for New River Community College presidency

RICHMOND, VA – Dr. David Doré, Chancellor of the Virginia Community College System (VCCS), announced today that he has appointed Dr. Robert Brandon to become the seventh president of New River Community College (NRCC). Brandon’s selection concludes a search that attracted 70 candidates nationwide. His service as president at New River will begin January 1, 2025.

“I’m excited about Robert’s appointment,” said Dr. Doré. “I am confident he will build on New River’s outstanding history of serving its communities and its diverse student populations and will lead NRCC into a new era as Virginia’s Community Colleges embark on a system-wide transformation to serve more learners in new ways.”

“Our months-long search yielded exceptional candidates, and we are grateful to all of the talented educators who expressed interest in the New River presidency,” Doré added.

Brandon currently serves as vice president of Academic and Student Services at Southwest Virginia Community College (SWCC) in Richlands, Virginia, a position he has held since 2018. Previously, Brandon served as dean of Humanities, Social Sciences, and Education at Cleveland State Community College in Cleveland, TN. From 2005 to 2013, he served as an associate professor of English at Rockingham Community College in Wentworth, NC. where he would also chair both the English and Student Success Departments.

Brandon earned a bachelor’s degree in English at Virginia Intermont College in Bristol, VA, a master’s degree in English at East Tennessee State University in Johnson City, TN, and a doctorate in English at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro in Greensboro, NC.

Bill Cunningham, Chair of NRCC’s College Board, expressed confidence in Dr. Brandon’s leadership. “I would like to congratulate Dr. Brandon on being named the seventh president of New River Community College. I would also like to thank Chancellor Doré and the search committee as well as our local board for their involvement and commitment shown to the presidential selection process. We look forward to working with Dr. Brandon in continuing to build on the strength of New River Community College’s core values and the solid foundation we have built over the years.   We are pleased to welcome him to our college family and our community.”

For his part, Brandon is eager to take the reins, emphasizing that his leadership style will be one that’s grounded in collaboration and empathy. “I believe it is the responsibility of everyone in a leadership role to build the kind of professional relationships that allow people to be put in the position to reach their maximum potential,” said Brandon.

Brandon added that he takes pride in his commitment to student success and looks forward to building on the college’s reputation for unrivaled service. “New River Community College is the jewel of the valley; its track record of changing lives for the better is unparalleled. I’m extremely excited for the college’s future and for the students who look to us to for help in realizing their potential.”

Brandon succeeds Dr. Pat Huber who announced her retirement earlier this year after more than three decades of service at NRCC.

About New River Community College
New River Community College is a two-year institution of higher education under the statewide Virginia Community College System. NRCC’s service area includes the City of Radford as well as the counties of Floyd, Giles, Montgomery, and Pulaski. NRCC is located in the New River Valley of Virginia with a campus in Dublin and a site in Christiansburg.

About Virginia’s Community Colleges
Since 1966, Virginia’s Community Colleges have given everyone the opportunity to learn and develop the right skills, so lives and communities are strengthened. By making higher education and workforce training available in every part of Virginia, we elevate all of Virginia. In AY 2024, Virginia’s Community Colleges served more than 232,000 students across 23 schools throughout Virginia. For more information, please visit www.vccs.edu.